Knitting-machine needle.



A. P. WATT.

KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. e. 1913.

1,127,1 32, Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

Witnesses. lhvntor.

w Andrew PaulWaH,

1 e YWWeW f'" An ie.

ITED STATES PATNT oFrreE.

ANDREW PAUL WATT, 0E MANCHESTER, N w HAMPSHIRE.

KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLE."

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

Application filed August 6, 1913. Serial No. 788,296.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW PAUL WATT,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at anchester, county of -HlllSb0lO, State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement-in Knittin -Machine Needles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification. l ke characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to knitting machine needles and to the method of making the same, and has for'an object to provide a needle which will be reliable and not subject to breakage at the butt and at the same time-which will provide a proper bearing at the heel to keep the needle from tipping in its slot' and to provide a method of manufacture ofsuch needles.

Knitting machine needles as most commonly manufactured are made from wire 7 bent to form flattened. The butt of the needle as so formed consists of a loop of wire, which at the outer end .is bent double upon itself and therefore seriously weakened, the distortion of the metal and the internal stresses resulting in frequent breakage. Some typesof machines are so arranged that the broken ends of the needles fall among the working parts and causeserious trouble, for which reason it is particularly important to provide a type of needle in which the breakage will be reduced to a minimum.

By the present invention 1 have devised a construction of needle and'a methdd of manufacturing needles from wire, in which.

the butt is formed by the bent up end of the wire body. I form the heel integral with the butt by shaping a part of the metal toform the butt and a part toform the heel.

This may be done by drawing out the metal at theangle of the butt after the end of the body has been bent'to form the heel, -or.by dividing this end of the body either before or after bending and forming the heel from onedivided end. If the end isdivided first onlyone part is bent and the other part is Ieftstraight to form the heel. The shank, terminating. in a yarn-receiving hook is formed as usual by drawing out, bending, etc., and may be formed either as a needle.

the shank-and butt Fig. 2, showing the heel ing out the metal at the the buttand heel, and then I -2 terminating in a latch needle or as a spring hook .The novel features of the invention will be fully described in the following specification and particularly pointed'out in the claims.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a side view of a knitting the type known as a latch needle, the end having been bent up to form a butt, and having been flattened. Fig. 2 is a side view of a portion of the needle showing the butt after the metal has been drawn out at the apex of the angle to form the heel. Fig. 3 is a view similar to as formed by drawangle in a somewhat different manner. Fig. 4 is a side view illustrating adifl'erent method of manufacture showing-the butt as partially formed. Fig.

side View showing the step of another method of manufacturein which the end of the needle body is split and one part bent to form the heel. Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the blank after the surplus metal has been cut away from the shank and the divided portion bent down to form the heel, and Fig. 10 is a'similar view showing the vbent back portion as form a more extended heel. "Referring to the drawing in detail 1 indicates the body of a needle having a shank yarn receiving hook 3 and having the other end bent at an an le to the shank, to form a butt 4.. In order thatthe needle may not tip in the knitting machine when it is drawn 'backwardly by the cam acting upon sary that it should have shape. Fig. 8 is a blank after the first a heel portion projecting beyond the button the edge oppo site from the shank and'this heel portion-- must. presenta bearing in alinement with the back edge of the shank. In Fig. 2 I have shown this heel portion as formed at 5 by drawing out the metal at the apex ofv vide the necessary 'trength, there being 110 showing the heelv drawn out to-a different,

drawn out to the butt, it is necesthinner thanthe rest of the comparatively little strain upon this heel portion, and such strain as there is is in the direction of its greatest strength.

- In Fig. 3-1 have shown a heel portion at 6, formed in substantially the same manner as the heel portion shown in Fig. 2, but of a somewhat different shape, and less metal has been drawn out from the angle to form such heel portion. It will be noticed that in this form the heel portion 6 does not'bear for its full length against the knitting cylinder, but there is no particular disadvantage in such a hearing, it being sutlicient that the heel shall bear at a point somewhat distant from the butt to keep the needle from tipping.

In Figs. l, 5, and 6 I have illustrated another method of construction. As shown I use a considerably larger stock bending the wire at a right angle to form the butt. I then flatten the needle until it is of the desired thickness, then reduce the shank in the usual manner down to the butt and cut away the surplus stock at the rear of the'butt, as

shown at 7. When this surplus portion is removed the butt of the needle will be of the necessary shape and size, and there will be a projecting portion 8 which may be drawn out to form an extended heel, as shown, for example, at 9.

In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 I have shown another method of providing the needle with an extended heel portion. In accordance with this method I make the needle from wire which is sufliciently large, so that when bent and flattened and the shank reduced, it will be of the form shown in Fig. 8, and of sufficient width to provide a'butt l0 and a heel 11. This bent portion is then slit as shown at 12, leaving the'butt 10 of a required size. The slit off portion is then bent and .worked back as shown in Fig. 9, to form a heel -pre senting a bearing 14 in alinement with the edge 15 of the shank of the needle. If desired, this heel may be drawn out as shown at 16 in Fig. 10 to form a more extended bearing.

Thus this invention in all forms provides a knitting machine needle having a suitable butt and a heel presenting a bearing beyond the butt and in line with the back of the needle. In a needle made in accordance with this invention, the metal of the butt and heel is homogeneous thus eliminating the objections of unreliability and expense due to welding or similar operations; the rain of the metal extends longitudinally of the butt, thus eliminating the sharp bend of the grain of the metal at the end of the butt which has always been a great source the edge of the of weakness; and all the advantages due to the use of wire which has always been found superior to sheet metal from which needles are sometimes made by stamping or punching operations are retained.

The invention in its broader aspect is not concerned with the particular method of drawing out the metal to form the heel as this can be done by various well known processes of drawing, hammering, spinning and rolling.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wire knitting machine needle comprising a shank, a yarn receiving hook at one end of said shank, a butt near the opposite end of said shank projecting at an angle and being of homogeneous metal. the grain of which butt all extends longitudinally thereof, and an integral heel portion extending from the free edge of said butt and presenting a bearing in back of the shank.

2. A wire knitting machine needle comprising a body having a shank terminating in a yarn receiving hook and having the other end bent at art angle to the shank to form a butt, the metal of the body being drawn out to form a heel projecting from butt opposite the shank, bearing in line with the whereby the needle prebearing beyond the back of the line with the and presenting a back of the shank, sents a solid butt with a each edge of the butt at needle.

3. A wire knitting machine needle comprising a body portion having a shank terminating in a yarn receiving hook, said body portion being divided at the opposlte end and the separate portions forming respectively a butt and a heel, said heel presenting a bearing in alinement with the hack of the shank at the opposite edge of the butt from said shank.

in a yarn receiving hook and having the other end bent at an angle to the shank to form a butt, part of the metal of such end being bent back to form a heel portion presenting a bearing in line with the back of the shank.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREVV' PAUL WATT. Witnesses:

MAnnIcE B. Llannnns, THOMAS J. DRUMMOND. 

